Mozambique. Teachers Freeze Grades Until Overtime Is Paid

The Ministry of Education of Mozambique today committed to paying overtime to teachers until the end of November, but they guarantee that the freezing of grades will continue until the debt is paid off.

"We are working on overtime for 2022, which is said to have already been validated. We also learned that the hours for 2023 have already been validated and will be paid after the November salary, which is running out," said the secretary -general of the National Organization of Teachers (ONP), Teodoro Muidumbe, after a meeting, in Maputo, with representatives from the ministries of Education and Economy and Finance, together with the National Association of Teachers (Anapro).

This representative stated, at the end of the meeting, that he had received guarantees from the Government about the regularization of these payments.

"The Ministry of Economy and Finance, on behalf of the Government of Mozambique, is saying that it will normally pay overtime from 2024," he also said.

However, also at the end, the Anapro representative stated that the meeting only proved that the Government only invites teachers "when there is pressure".

"They called to take care of us, as we have reached another end of the school year", said Anapro spokesperson, Marcos Mulima, regretting that, despite the promises, the situation remains unresolved.

The representative assured that the decision to freeze grades by teachers, in relation to the third quarter of the 2024 academic year, which affects the testing period, is to be maintained until payment for overtime is made.

"Just today we submitted a letter informing the Ministry of Education that, from the date of submission, there will be a freeze on results, that there will be no grade council and, consequently, it could undermine the preparation process leading up to the exams" , Mulima explained.

The spokesperson for Anapro, which represents around 4 thousand teachers and which held a demonstration in Maputo, demanding these payments, last Saturday, assured that, without the payment of overtime in arrears since 2022, "there will be no delivery of grades , there are no 10th and 12th class exams" in Mozambique this school year, which is about to close.

"There is no longer a deadline, it is today and now (...) we will only return to a normal environment in the classroom, exams and the entire process when payment is made", he concluded.

On April 17, Mozambique's Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane said the government had already paid 3.3 million euros in overtime to teachers, warning of "unsubstantiated pay claims."

"In the education sector, a debt worth 361.6 million meticais [5.3 million euros] was validated, with an amount of 227.4 million meticais [3.3 million euros] already paid in subsidies overtime", said Maleiane, speaking at the Assembly of the Republic during the executive's response session to deputies' questions.